OFF-Biennale Budapest started ten years ago as a grassroots initiative providing a platform for progressive, critical culture in order to strengthen the local independent art scene. Since 2014, OFF-Biennale has been organizing regular art events in a biennial format based on wide-ranging collaboration between local stakeholders and international partners. Through its manifold activities, OFF-Biennale aims to contribute to the public discourse by introducing urgent social, political and ecological issues with the intention of enhancing the culture of democracy by means of art. OFF-Biennale is currently in the preparation phase of its next edition, which will take place in May–June 2025. The central idea behind the upcoming biennale is to reclaim notions that have been hijacked by the populist right-wing discourse, such as security, safety, or peace. Instead of top-down concepts that proclaim autocracy, closed borders, and xenophobia, OFF-Biennale presents critical theories and social practices through art that offer other models based on trust, sharing, and solidarity. With a concentrated presence in Budapest, the biennale will comprise projects involving Romani people, children, and the LGBTQAI+ community as well as many local partners of the cultural scene. Parallel to the program anchored locally, OFF will collaborate on international projects with partners in Europe and beyond, helping the Hungarian scene expand by bringing its artists, curators, and content onto the international stage as well as facilitating an exchange of ideas between the two contexts.